Council members, on a 3-0 vote, seated Drew Lesnik as the new council member representing Ward 1.

Readers will recall that alderman Wayne Anderson has resigned to move to New Mexico. Lesnik has lived in Conrad for three years and has a degree in Business Finance. There will be more about Lesnik in an upcoming issue of the I-O.

In another hiring, Khrystyne Jamerson, on a recommendation of the library board, was hired to replace Stephanie Moerkerke who with her husband and family is relocating to Gillette, Wyo.

Librarian Carolyn Donath, in a monthly report, said the library served 1,107 people in June and that Bonnie Berthelson is averaging 50 kids for her day-reading programs.

She also noted, “There are a lot of new people coming in,” to use the library and its’ services.

A wage increase for Donath and the other two library employees was approved by the council and the wage for a relief policeman was OK’d at $16.03 an hour.

Resolution 12-1081 was passed. This deals with an inter-cap loan for the city hall remodel project. The loan will be paid back out of the general fund. The loan is for $320,000. Draw downs will be on a monthly basis. The last inter-cap loan was with the Tri-city local a number of years ago.

In a report to the council, Chief Gary Dent said there were 237 calls for service in June.

In part, there were eight calls for domestic situations, three businesses were found open, five vandalism cases were reported, 14 rides home were given, 16 traffic citations were issued including one for a fifth DUI offense, three assaults were reported and 36 animal related calls came in.

Public Works Director Rich Anderson said alleys were being cleared, fogging was being done, trees were planted in Keil Park, the sewer line for a lift station was in place and the station should be installed in August.

Crews are spraying and mowing property and the city hall remodel project began on Tuesday.

A public hearing was held to take comment on two conditional use permits and get a first reading on Ordinance-404 which deals with a 10-year franchise with NorthWestern Energy for services. Attorneys for both sides have reviewed the new ordinance, which once was for 50 years, and put their stamp of approval on it.

The council passed, after the public hearing, two separate conditional use permits.

One was for Gene Riewer to park his RV on his lot and the other was for the Conrad Denture Clinic at 302 S. Delaware for Sandin Barney to continue to provide a dental services business.

As of June 19, 13 commercial permits have been issued and two are under review.

In addition, five new residential permits were read at the meeting. They deal with three re-roofing projects, a fence and a re-siding project.

The next regular meeting of the city council will take place in city hall at 411-1/2 S. Main Street July 16 at 7:30 p.m.

The public is always welcome and encouraged to come and see their government at work.